Ministry of Defence

Defence Equipment: Procurement

Earl Attlee: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the MoD’s book, transfer, target or purchase price for the defence lamp holder and cap assembly component, NATO stock number 9ACR6210 99 5622; what was their approximate stock holding of that component in depot as of 7 December; how many units have been issued in the last 36-month period for which figures are available; what is the highest wattage bulb that can be fitted to that component; and whether that component is still fitted to in-service equipment or is now obsolete.

Earl Howe: We do not recognise the stock number that my noble Friend has quoted. We believe he is referring to NATO Stock Number (NSN) 6210 99 881 5622 which is a light holder fitted to the driver's control panel in the Bulldog FV430 armoured troop carrier. The maximum wattage bulb that is cleared for use with this item is 2.5W.The Defence Equipment & Support Stock Control System contains an indicative price of £70.11 (VAT Ex) for this NSN and as at 7 December 2015 there were 175 in stock. Over the previous 36 months a total of 216 of these items have been issued.

Iraq: Military Intervention

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what has been the financial cost to date of UK air strikes against Daesh in Iraq.

Earl Howe: It is not possible to separate out the costs of military action in Iraq from that of wider counter-Daesh operations due to the inter-related nature of UK military activity. The net additional cost of UK counter-Daesh operations to date is approximately £150 million. This includes around £80 million for military operations between August 2014 - 31 March 2015 and a net additional cost to date in this financial year of around £70 million.

Syria: Military Intervention

The Lord Bishop of Coventry: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the projected financial cost for this financial year of UK air strikes against Daesh in Syria.

Earl Howe: It is not possible to separate out the costs of military action in Syria from that of wider counter-Daesh operations, due to the inter-related nature of UK military activity. Based on current levels of activity, the net additional cost of increased UK activity in Syria is not expected to rise above the low tens of millions of pounds.

Military Aircraft

Lord Trefgarne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many Vigilant motorised gliders are presently available for training RAF Cadets and potential aircrews.

Earl Howe: There are currently four Vigilant motorised gliders available for training RAF cadets, and a further four are about to return to service. Air experience opportunities have been afforded to our cadets in the interim. These include flights in other RAF aircraft, as well as opportunities to fly in civilian gliders. Vigilant is not used to train potential regular RAF aircrew.We recognise how frustrating this has been for our Air Cadets, but safety has got to be our top priority.

Home Office

Counter-terrorism

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what mechanisms exist to scrutinise the Channel programme and Prevent strategy, and what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of those mechanisms.

Lord Bates: The Government has developed a dual approach to assessing the effectiveness of initiatives funded by the Prevent strategy, including the Channel programme. It is based on comprehensive monitoring systems which track outcomes over time and robust evaluation techniques.In addition, the Prevent Oversight Board, chaired by the Minister for Security, has responsibility to oversee the delivery of the Prevent Programme.

Alcoholic Drinks: Crime

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment the Ministry of Justice has made of whether there is a correlation between alcohol consumption and criminal activity.

Lord Bates: Alcohol is a contributory factor in crime and disorder. The Home Office has estimated that alcohol-related crime costs society around £11.4 billion per year.The Crime Survey for England and Wales data from 2013/14 showed that around half (53%) of all violent crimes are alcohol-related, with two-thirds (64%) of all violent crimes involving strangers attributable to alcohol-consumption. Alcohol is also associated with over a third (36%) of domestic violence incidents.There is also a link between non-violent crime and alcohol. 36% of penalty notices for disorder in 2014/15 were issued for being drunk and disorderly. Alcohol is closely associated with anti-social behaviour with nearly one fifth of adults (18%) perceiving people being drunk or rowdy as a problem in their local area in 2014/15.

Refugees: Syria

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government with which local authorities in England they are discussing an arrangement for the settlement of refugees from Syria.

Lord Bates: The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme operates on a voluntary basis, and we are in discussions with local authorities across the UK regarding their participation. Resettlement can be a sensitive issue for local areas, and we therefore cannot disclose which local authorities are considering their involvement without their consent.

Drugs

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to produce an update to the 2010 Drug Strategy, and if so, what is the timetable.

Lord Bates: The Government plans to refresh our approach and build on the balanced 2010 Drug Strategy ‘Reducing demand, restricting supply, building recovery: supporting people to live a drug-free life’ in line with the manifesto commitments including to tackle drugs as a key driver of crime; intervene early to prevent troubled young people being drawn into crime; and review how best to support those suffering from long term drug dependency back into work.There are promising signs our approach is working - with a downward trend in drug use over the last decade and more people recovering from their dependency now than in 2009/10.A date for the publication of the refreshed approach is yet to be confirmed.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Apprentices

Baroness Redfern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many engineering and manufacturing apprenticeships were created in the last Parliament (1) nationally, and (2) in North Lincolnshire, and how many they are intending to create during this Parliament.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: There have been 324,800 apprenticeship starts in the manufacturing technologies sector subject area nationally in the last parliament (May 2010 to April 2015).In North Lincolnshire Local Authority there have been 1,500 apprenticeship starts in the manufacturing technologies sector subject area in the last parliament (May 2010 to April 2015).We are committed to reaching 3 million apprenticeship starts in England by 2020.The locations and sectors where apprenticeships are available are determined by employers choosing to offer apprenticeships and recruit apprentices. We have therefore set no specific regional targets.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have suspended or revoked any extant arms licences to Saudi Arabia, or refused any new requests for licences for bombs, missiles, or other military arms and equipment, in the light of repeated UN statements regarding breaches of international humanitarian law in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.

Lord Maude of Horsham: Since 2014 there have been no suspensions, no revocations and no refusals for licences for bombs, missiles, or other military arms and equipment”.

Students: Loans

Baroness Burt of Solihull: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of changes in student loan repayments to freeze the £21,000 income threshold cap on students and graduates from lower and middle incomes.

Lord Maude of Horsham: The budget for the Tradeshow Access Programme was £11.05M in 2014/15 and the estimated spend in 2015/16 is £10.25M.For 2016/17 and beyond, UKTI will be reviewing how the Tradeshow Access Programme is aligned with other Export Services as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement. It is therefore not possible to confirm the budget at this stage.I will respond positively to a request for a meeting with the Sponsors Alliance subject to diary commitments.

Trade Fairs

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara: To ask Her Majesty’s Government (1) what was the budget for the Trade Show Access Programme (TAP) from 1 April to 30 March in (a) 2014–15, and (b) 2015–16; (2) what they expect the budget to be for the financial years (a) 2016–17, (b) 2017–18, and (c) 2018–19; and (3) whether the Minister for Trade and Investment plans to meet the Sponsors Alliance to discuss the future of the Trade Show Access Programme, and if so, when the meeting will take place.

Lord Maude of Horsham: The budget for the Tradeshow Access Programme was £11.05M in 2014/15 and the estimated spend in 2015/16 is £10.25M.For 2016/17 and beyond, UKTI will be reviewing how the Tradeshow Access Programme is aligned with other Export Services as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement. It is therefore not possible to confirm the budget at this stage.I will respond positively to a request for a meeting with the Sponsors Alliance subject to diary commitments.

Department for International Development

Syria: Reconstruction

Lord Rana: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to spend the £1 billion pledged for post-war reconstruction in Syria.

Baroness Verma: The UK has been at the forefront of the international response to the humanitarian crisis in Syria. We have committed over £1.1 billion to date, making us the second largest bilateral donor to the international response.We have planned for the endgame since the beginning of the conflict and during the Geneva process. We are now updating our planning to reflect the timeline envisaged in the Vienna process and are asking others to do the same. The initial priorities for Syria post-conflict will be protection, security, stabilisation and confidence building measures, including meeting basic needs and helping displaced people to return. Over time the focus will shift to longer-term re-building of Syria’s shattered infrastructure, harnessing the expertise of the UN, International Financial Institutions and the private sector. On 26 November, the Prime Minister announced at least £1 billion for Syria’s reconstruction. We anticipate that we would allocate reconstruction funds against a plan agreed between a new, inclusive Syrian government and the international community, once the conflict has ended.

Zimbabwe: Loans

Lord Oates: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made regarding the government of Zimbabwe's attempt to access external funding from multilateral financial institutions including the IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank.

Baroness Verma: The Government of Zimbabwe has been in arrears to the International Financial Institutions for over a decade. This prevents Zimbabwe from accessing any new financing for development from the World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank.The Government of Zimbabwe presented its plans to clear multilateral arrears at a side meeting during the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings, in October. Bilateral creditors at the meeting, including the UK, broadly welcomed the intention of the Government of Zimbabwe to work towards arrears clearance, but stressed that implementation of reforms would be necessary to achieve debt resolution.

Department for Education

Regional Schools Commissioners

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the powers, duties and responsibilities of Regional School Commissioners.

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the appointment process for Regional School Commissioners.

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government who line manages Regional School Commissioners.

Lord Nash: The eight Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) take decisions in the name of the Secretary of State in relation to schools and academies (including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools). The RSCs were appointed through open competition, with successful candidates being appointed for their outstanding leadership skills and track record. The process was overseen by the Civil Service Commissioner. RSCs are line managed by the national Schools Commissioner.The responsibilities of RSCs include:a) monitoring the performance of the academies, free schools, UTCs and studio schools in their area;b) taking action when an academy, free school, UTC or studio school is underperforming;c) approving the conversion of maintained schools to academies and making the decision on the sponsor for new academies in areas where the local authority has identified a need for additional school places;d) making recommendations to ministers about free school applications and advising on whether approved free school projects are ready to open;e) encouraging organisations to become academy sponsors or to establish free schools, approving applications to become sponsors and helping to build the capacity and capability of existing sponsors within their area;f) approving changes to open academies, for example: changes to age ranges, mergers between academies, and changes to MAT arrangements;g) addressing underperformance in local authority maintained schools through sponsored academy arrangements.

Secondary Education: Audit

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the estimated cost per pupil of auditing the accounts of a 1,000-pupil secondary school, in (1) the maintained sector, and (2) the academy sector.

Lord Nash: Schools in the maintained sector do not require an external audit as this is undertaken at local authority level.Each academy trust’s audit fees vary reflecting a number of different factors such as the auditing firm used and the complexity of the business. We are, therefore, unable to provide an estimation of audit fees on a cost per pupil basis for a 1,000-pupil secondary school.

Academies

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Nash on 1 December (HL Deb, col 1054), what is the role of the Charity Commission in scrutinising academies.

Lord Nash: Academy trusts are charities, and must comply with charity law. As Principal Regulator the Secretary of State has a duty to promote this compliance by the charity trustees with their legal obligations in a trust’s management and administration.The Charity Commission has powers of investigation and enforcement over academy trusts where the Secretary of State, as Principal Regulator, requests that the Commission investigates a concern that the Department has identified. This means that, in consultation with the Principal Regulator, the Charity Commission, will investigate and if a serious failure to comply with charity law is found, has the necessary enforcement powers to act if sanctions are required.Academy trusts are exempt from registration and direct regulation by the Charity Commission and are instead overseen by a Principal Regulator. As PR, the Secretary of State has powers to investigate but enforcement powers rest with the Charity Commission.

Vocational Guidance: Young People

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, in developing their plans for improving the careers service for young people up to the age of 18, they have consulted the National Careers Service about possible collaboration.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education works closely with the National Careers Service (NCS), which supports young people directly through a website, telephone helpline and webchat service and through a brokerage role with schools and employers.We consulted the NCS in advance of establishing The Careers & Enterprise Company, and since then the two organisations have worked together to understand where and how services can be coordinated to ensure that they complement each other.In the spring we will publish a strategy for improved careers provision for young people and we are engaging with the NCS as we develop our proposals. In particular the NCS will support one of our key aims, which is to ensure that young people and their parents or carers can access the information they need to make informed decisions on their education, training and employment options.

Schools: Finance

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what role local authorities and school governors have in agreeing annual school budgets.

Lord Nash: Maintained schools receive a delegated budget from their local authority. Local authorities are required to maintain a scheme for financing schools that sets out the framework for the financial relationship between them and the schools they maintain. This requires that the school’s formal annual budget plan must be approved by the governors. This approval is undertaken on the basis that the budget is being used for the purposes of the school.Under the scheme for financing schools, a local authority’s responsibilities are to review schools’ budget plans; to carry out high level monitoring of school budgets; to agree a deficit reduction programme with schools in deficit; to challenge excess surplus balances held by schools without good reason; to intervene in schools for which there are financial concerns.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Education

Baroness Rebuck: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of prisoners' access to course-specific books and study materials to support their studies towards recognised further or higher education qualifications, and what plans they have to improve current arrangements.

Lord Faulks: Offender Learning and Skills providers are responsible for ensuring learners can access course specific books and study materials. Books may also be accessed through prison libraries and sent by families and friends.On 8 September the Secretary of State asked Dame Sally Coates to lead a review of education in prisons which will report in due course.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Public Records

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which instruments have been used to grant exemptions from deposit in the National Archives under the Public Records Act 1958 since the introduction of the rule that closed records should be deposited after 20 years.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Departments that wish to physically retain custody of records for an administrative or other reason (such as national security) for longer than the prescribed period require a retention instrument.Since 2013, when the Government began its move towards transferring records to the National Archives when they are 20 years old, rather than 30, retention instrument numbers 111 to 119 have been approved.

Tourism

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the annual value of tourism to the UK economy.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Office for National Statistics has estimated that tourism was worth £59.6 billion Gross Value Added to the UK economy in 2014.

Tourism

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the annual spending by inbound tourists to the UK and which countries are the 10 largest source markets from which those tourists come.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: According to the Office for National Statistics International Passenger Survey, inbound visitors to the UK spent £21.85 billion in 2014. The top ten inbound markets by spend last year are set out in the following table.Top 10 inbound markets by value 2014FromSpend (£m)1USA£2,9442Germany£1,4783France£1,4344Australia£1,2245Spain£1,0826Italy£9227Irish Republic£8708Netherlands£7019Norway£54810Sweden£503More information can be found on the VisitBritain website -https://www.visitbritain.org/inbound-tourism-trends

Tourism

Lord Fearn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the total annual spending of visitors and tourists in the domestic tourism sector in the UK.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: According to VisitEngland's Great Britain Tourism Survey, GB residents spent £22.7 billion on overnight trips taken across England, Scotland and Wales in 2014. Additionally, the Great Britain Day Visit Survey shows that over the same period, GB residents spent £53.8 billion on day visits across England, Scotland and Wales.

Broadcasting: Children

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how a child is defined within the Ofcom Broadcasting Code.

Baroness Shields: For the purposes of protecting children from viewing or listening to unsuitable material, section one of the Broadcasting Code defines children as those aged under fifteen years. For the purporses of safeguarding children involved in programmes, the Code protects all young people under the age of eighteen.

Broadcasting: Children

Baroness Howe of Idlicote: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how Ofcom is ensuring that persons under the age of 18 are protected from inappropriate content in television and radio services.

Baroness Shields: Section One of the Broadcasting Code serves to protect children from unsuitable content in television and radio services. The rules in this section include specific provisions, and cover areas such as drugs, smoking, violence and dangerous behaviour, offensive language, sexual material and nudity. The rules also specifically protect children before the watershed on television at 9pm and at times when they are particularly likely to be listening to radio services. Ofcom enforces these rules robustly, and can impose statutory sanctions on any broadcaster that breaches them.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Lead Ammunition Group

Baroness Parminter: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they intend to publish the report of the Lead Ammunition Group, which was submitted on 3 June, and their response.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Government is considering the independent Lead Ammunition Group’s report and will respond as soon as possible.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Religious Hatred: Islam

Baroness Afshar: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim communities in the UK.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Everyone in Britain has the right to feel safe and at ease in the place where they live. There is no place for hatred against people because of their race, gender, ethnic origin, faith, sexual orientation, age or disability.Anti-Muslim attacks rose 30-40% in the first two weeks after the Paris attacks. These attacks are unacceptable in Britain. The Government funds Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) to encourage reporting of these crimes and to support victims. We have also set up the first cross Government Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group to raise awareness of Islamaphobic attacks. In addition, the Prime Minister announced that the police will disaggregate hate crime by religion beginning in April 2016. This will help the police to build community trust, target their resources and enable the public to hold them to account.

Devolution: North of England

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which devolution from central government to the North of England should be based on devolving decision-making and administration to (1) local authorities, (2) the areas covered by Local Economic Partnerships, (3) city regions, (4) the three traditional regions of the North West, the North East and Yorkshire, with or without Humberside, and (5) the North of England as a whole.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: This Government is committed to devolving significant powers away from Whitehall, and we have already agreed devolution deals with five great Northern areas. We have been very clear that it is for places to define their own aspirations for devolution. We encourage all relevant local partners, including local authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships, to engage in discussions to ensure consensus is reached on the most suitable geography to pursue devolution.

Air Pollution

Lord Hunt of Chesterton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce planning and building regulations to ensure that within public and private buildings the concentrations of atmospheric pollutants do not exceed safety standards.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: There are already strong protections in place to safeguard people from unacceptable risks from air pollution. National planning policy in England is clear that new development should be appropriate for its location, taking proper account of the effects of pollution on people's health, and building regulations require adequate means of ventilation for people in buildings. This requirement applies when new buildings are constructed or work is carried out on existing buildings.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

District Heating

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the cost of energy bills to people served by District Heating Networks.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: In March 2015 DECC published a report by AECOM titled ‘An Assessment of the Costs, Performance, and Characteristics of UK Heat Networks’. The report included a review of the prices charged to final customers by a representative sample of heat networks (7 in total). The average heat price was found to be 6.43p/kWh but with a wide range of 4.64 to 9.88 p/kWh reflecting differences in network design, construction, commissioning and operation. On average this is less than the modelled cost of gas central heating in flats and terraced houses when boiler ownership costs are included (7.22 to 10.24p/kWh).The Government is aware that costs to the consumer can vary and achieving cost savings is dependent on the quality of the individual network. DECC has supported industry development of a technical code of practice for heat networks, and worked closely with industry and consumer groups on the development of Heat Trust, an independent consumer protection scheme that launched in November 2015. There are also plans to launch an on-line cost comparator tool in 2016 to allow a consumer to assess their charges against gas central heating. This greater transparency of heat charges is complemented by the billing information requirements in the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014.

Department of Health

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress has been made in 2015 towards ensuring that people with mental health issues are not detained in police cells because no hospital bed is available for them.

Lord Prior of Brampton: According to data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the number of people detained in police custody as a place of safety under section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 fell by 34% in England between 2013-14 and 2014-15. This corresponds to an increase in the use of hospital-based places of safety of 14%, according to the Health & Social Care Information Centre. The figure amounts to a 54% reduction in the use of police custody since 2011-12, surpassing the ambition of a 50% reduction set out in the Government’s Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, which was published in February 2014 and is attached. Existing guidance in the Concordat and the Mental Health Act Code of Practice makes it clear that police custody should only be used as a place of safety in exceptional circumstances.The Concordat – signed by over 25 national organisations – has led to the establishment of 96 local groups covering the entirety of England, consisting of health, policing and local authority partners who have pledged to work together to improve mental health crisis care and set out detailed, publicly available plans, including to reduce the use of police custody for those detained under the Act.However, although significant progress has been made, the Government has signalled its intention to go further by amending legislation through the forthcoming Police and Criminal Justice Bill, so that, among other measures, police custody can never be used as a place of safety for under-18s and so custody can only be used for adults in the most exceptional circumstances.Moreover, in May this year the Home Secretary announced that the Government would invest up to an additional £15 million in 2016-17 to reduce the use of police custody as a place of safety. Further announcements around this will be made shortly.



Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat
(PDF Document, 1.8 MB)

Prisoners: Hepatitis

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what incentives and performance targets exist to encourage HM Prison Service to improve rates of testing for hepatitis C among prisoners.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Improving the proactive detection, surveillance and management of infectious diseases in prisons is a shared priority for the National Offender Management Service, NHS England and Public Health England, as described in the Second National Partnership Agreement published earlier this year. A copy is attached.Included within this work programme is implementation of the blood-borne virus (BBV) opt-out testing programme for people in prisons, which includes testing for Hepatitis C virus infection as well as Hepatitis B virus and HIV.The ambition is to have BBV opt-out testing in all adult prisons in England by end of the financial year 2016-17.While there are currently no financial incentives or direct performance targets, performance in this activity is measured by NHS England through the collection of data via the Health & Justice Indicators of Performance. The data are used by NHS England commissioners to performance manage healthcare providers in prisons.



National Partnership Agreement
(PDF Document, 294.81 KB)